Ubuntu 11.04

There are two options to edit the settings. Either using the CompizConfig Settings Manager (ccsm) or the Configuration Editor (gconf-editor). I'll describe both ways.

CompizConfig Settings Manager

Warning: CCSM is in universe and not shipped by default for a reason, it can be flaky, so be careful in there, it can break things, if you find yourself with a broken window manager, see this question to reset your configuration.

Now you can set settings described above. Clicking on an item will show a short description in the Key Documentation panel.

Configuration Editor (dconf-editor)

There are also some options you can edit using dconf-editor (needs to be installed first by installing dconf-tools at Ubuntu Software Center or by clicking here):

Open up the Configuration Editor by pressing Alt + F2 and typing dconf-editor

Navigate to Desktop -> Unity to find the first two options:

form-factor: The form factor chosen will affect the size of the Dash. Desktop uses a fixed sized Dash, Netbook will always maximize the Dash to screen size, Automatic decides whether to use Desktop or Netbook based on the screen resolution.

home-expanded: Whether the home screen of the Dash should be expanded (Expanded) or not (Not Expanded).

Navigate to Desktop -> Unity -> Devices

devices-option: Key for setting the devices that will be shown on the launcher. Never -> never show devices on the launcher, OnlyMounted -> only show devices that are mounted, Always -> also show unmounted devices.

Navigate to Desktop -> Unity -> Launcher

favorites-migration: This is a detection key for the favorite migration script to know whether the needed migration is done or not. You don't want to change that.

favorites: This is a list of desktop files that show up in the launcher.

Navigate to Desktop -> Unity -> Panel

systray-whitelist: List of programs that are allowed to put icons in the panel's tray area: [''] -> none , ['all'] -> all programs, or a list of program names.

Launcher & Menus (unity-preferences)

There is another option to configure how to show the launcher then it is hidden.

Aside from the CCSM (Compiz Config Settings Manager) configurations described in another reply to this thread, you can also change what menu options appear when you right-click on an application launcher (icon) in Unity through custom launchers and so-called quicklists.

Ubuntu 11.10

This answer has been written taking this as base and modifying it for Ubuntu 11.10

There are two options to edit the settings. Either using the CompizConfig Settings Manager (ccsm) or the dconf-editor.

Note that (some?) changes only appear after logging out and in again (i.e. restarting X).

CompizConfig Settings Manager

Warning: CCSM is in universe and not shipped by default for a reason, it can be flaky, so be careful in there, it can break things, if you find yourself with a broken window manager, see this question to reset your configuration.

You can now configure quite a few different settings, like key shortcuts, the launcher behavior and appearance of the Launcher.

On the Behaviour tab you can configure:

The Reveal Mode sets from which edge the launcher will reveal.

The Edge Reveal Timeout sets the waiting time (in ms) before the launcher is revealed when a window is touching the edge.

The Hide Launcher sets the launchers hide behavior.

Never - The launcher will never hide.

Autohide - The launcher will hide automatically based on time.

Dodge Windows - The launcher will hide when a window would overlay it.

Dodge Active Window - The launcher will hide only when an active window would overlay it.

The key to show the launcher which by default is the Super key. This will also affect the key used to show the dash (if tapped) and the shortcuts shown when keeping Super pressed.

The key to put keyboard-focus on the launcher so you can navigate using your keyboard (default Alt + F1).

The key to open a Search Command dash where you can enter a command name you want to execute. (dafault Alt + F2).

The key to open the first panel menu (default F10).

On the Switcher Tab:

Automatically grid windows on timer in switcher: Turn this off if you want don't want to automatically expand multiple windows in alt-tab.

Bias alt-tab sorting to prefer windows on the current viewport: Select this if you want alt tab to prioritize the order in which applications are shows in alt-tab. Applications in your current workspace are listed first.

On the Experimental tab (might change hence the name):

The Backlight Mode sets how the icons are back-lit.

Backlight Always On - the icon back light will always be on.

Backlight Toggles - the icon back light will be on as long as the application is running.

Backlight Always Off - pretty much the opposite of the first option.

Edge Illumination Toggles - the edge illumination will be on as long as the application is running.

Backlight and Edge Illumination Toggles - the backlight and edge illumination will be on as long as the application is running.

The Launch Animation sets how the icons are animated.

None - no animation will be shown.

Pulse Until Running - the icon's back light will pulse till it loads up.

Blink - the icon's back light will blink.

The Urgent Animation sets how an icon will inform you of something important.

None - no animation.

Pulse - it will pulse.

Wiggle - it will wiggle.

The Panel Opacity sets the opacity of the panel.

The Launcher Opacity sets the opacity of the Launcher.

The Launcher icon size sets the size of the launcher in pixels.

The Hide Animation sets how the launcher will hide and unhide.

Fade on bfb and Slide - fades based on the position of your cursor in the bfb (big funny button - the one in the top left of your launcher with the Ubuntu circle of friends on it) and slides.

Slide only - it will only slide.

Fade only - it will only fade.

Fade and Slide - it will fade and slide.

The Dash Blur sets the level of blur in the dash.

No Blur

Static - snapshot of the desktop that doesn't get updated (in cases where the drivers can't handle it)

Active Blur - This means it actively blurs what is behind it.

The Automaximize value sets the minimum value to trigger automaximize.

Show Devices sets when to show devices in the launcher.

Never - Devices are never shown in the launcher.

Only Mounted - Device that are mounted are shown in the launcher.

Always - Devices are always shown in the launcher.

Configuration Editor (dconf-editor)

There are also some options you can edit using dconf-editor (needs to be installed first by installing dconf-tools at Ubuntu Software Center or by clicking here):

Open up the Configuration Editor by pressing Alt + F2 and typing dconf-editor

Navigate to Desktop -> Unity to find the first two options:

form-factor: The form factor chosen will affect the size of the Dash. Desktop uses a fixed sized Dash, Netbook will always maximize the Dash to screen size, Automatic decides whether to use Desktop or Netbook based on the screen resolution.

home-expanded: Whether the home screen of the Dash should be expanded (Expanded) or not (Not Expanded).

Extra tip for changing dash/launcher color

A new feature for Unity in 11.10 is the ability to change the color of the dash/launcher to match the user's current wallpaper. To take advantage of this, simply set a new wallpaper for your desktop, and the color will change automatically to match.

Note that more advanced control over the dash/launcher color (i.e., setting them to separate or arbitrary colors regardless of the wallpaper chosen) is currently not possible...at least not through an option. The dash/launcher color can actually be arbitrarily set by using an image editor to change the center pixels of your chosen wallpaper to the desired color. (See the OMG! Ubuntu article documenting this here.)

Ubuntu 12.04

Note: In previous answers, the utility CCSM was extensively used as the primary configuration tool. The use of this tool is strongly not recommended and can break your desktop. In this answer, CCSM is only used where the other tools do not offer the configuration options discussed.

Note that some changes only appear after logging out and in again (i.e. restarting X).

User Interface

Hit the Dash and search for appearance

From the Appearance tab you can configure the:

wallpaper

theme

size of the launcher icons

From the Behaviour tab you can configure the:

how to invoke the launcher by moving the mouse (hot-spot) - either left-side of the screen or the top-left corner

how quickly the launcher is revealed - lower the slide bar, the longer the mouse needs to be at the hot-spot to be revealed.

MyUnity

Hit Alt+F2 and type myunity and hit enter.

You can now configure quite a few different settings, like the launcher behavior, dash configuration, panel transparency, desktop icons and various font settings.

Launcher

color - Launcher background color

size - Launcher icon size

Transparency - Background transparency of the launcher

Show devices - Show removable USB drives as an icon

Behavior - How the launcher interacts with windows

Fixed - The launcher will never hide.

Hidden - The launcher will hide when a window would overlay it.

Display - What effect the launcher should use when hiding i.e. to fade away or to slide (or both)

Backlights - Style of icon background

Icons On - the icon back light will always be on.

Active Icons On - the icon back light will be on as long as the application is running.

Icons Off - No backlights on icons

Only Icons Edge - the edge illumination will be on as long as the application is running.

Launcher Quicklists

This option allows you to create quicklists - quicklists are a submenu that are displayed when you right-click a launcher icon.

For example - shutter

Dash

Display available apps - control whether similar applications from the software center should be displayed

Display recent apps - control whether applications you have recently used should be displayed

Blur - how or if Dash background is displayed - default is to blur the background

Off - No Blur

Smart - Active Blur - This means it actively blurs what is behind it.

On - snapshot of the desktop that doesn't get updated (in cases where the drivers can't handle it)

Transparency Maximized Toggle - if you are using a transparent top-panel this toggle controls whether an application that is maximised has its decoration also displayed transparently or in the theme colour.

Desktop

This tab determines whether the icons shown in the image appears on the desktop

Window animation - whether the launch and minimize window effect is displayed or not

sub-key Panel - systray-whitelist - List of client names, resource classes or wm classes to allow in the Panel's systray implementation. A value of [All] will allow any system-tray based application that is not by default a indicator to be displayed

CompizConfig Settings Manager

Note that ccsm is deprecated after 11.10; the same settings are available through gconf-editor in a somewhat safer though less intuitive interface. The settings below can be found in by selecting /apps/compiz-1/plugins/unityshell/screen0/options in the left-hand panel.

Hit Alt+F2 and type ccsm and hit enter.

Where an option is not described, then this functionality can be achieved through MyUnity described above.

On the Behaviour tab you can configure:

1. The key to invoke the HUD - Head Up Display - by default this is the Alt key.

The key to show the launcher which by default is the Super key. This will also affect the key used to show the dash (if tapped) and the shortcuts shown when keeping Super pressed.

The key to put keyboard-focus on the launcher so you can navigate using your keyboard (default Alt + F1).

The key to open a Search Command dash where you can enter a command name you want to execute. (dafault Alt + F2).

The key to open the first panel menu (default F10).

The key to define the Application switcher (default Super+Tab

The key to define the Reverse the Application switcher (default Shift+Super+Tab

On the Switcher Tab:

Automatically grid windows on timer in switcher: Turn this off if you want don't want to automatically expand multiple windows in alt-tab.

Bias alt-tab sorting to prefer windows on the current viewport: Check this if you want alt tab to show only applications in your current workspace, or uncheck it to show all open applications regardless of which workspace they're on.

Show minimized windows in switcher: Turn this off if you don't want minimized windows appearing in the switcher

On the Experimental tab (might change hence the name):

The Launch Animation sets how the icons are animated.

None - no animation will be shown.

Pulse Until Running - the icon's back light will pulse till it loads up.

Blink - the icon's back light will blink.

The Urgent Animation sets how an icon will inform you of something important.

None - no animation.

Pulse - it will pulse.

Wiggle - it will wiggle.

Launcher Reveal Pressure - amount of mouse pressure required to reveal the launcher when the mouse is located at the launcher hot-spot (Decreasing this value causes the launcher to reveal with very light touch of the cursor at the hot-spot or left-side, otherwise you have to travel the cursor a little way)

alt+f2 and writing myunity does nothing in my ubuntu 12.04. I'm quite disoriented by the non-uniformity of the management tools. I wonder if this is simply the effect of being open source or it's due to the fact that is a rapidly evolving project. Because in this second case i would like to know if there is a 'ultimate' tool designed to manage the system...
–
AgostinoXSep 14 '14 at 12:11

Unsettings

Unsettings is a graphical configuration program for the Unity desktop environment that lets you change some of the Unity settings.

Unsettings can only change your users’s settings, you can’t use it to change global settings or do anything else that needs root privileges.

You can use Unsettings to change the themes for GTK, window manger, icons and cursors. But it doesn’t support the installation of new themes.

With Unsettings you can switch off the global menu and the overlay scrollbars used in Unity.

In addition to just applying the settings Unsettings lets you to save your settings into and load from a text file (JSON format) so you can easily backup you settings or copy them to a different account.

Note 1: In previous answers, the utility CCSM was extensively used as the primary configuration tool. The use of this tool is strongly not recommended and can break your desktop. In this answer, CCSM is only used where the other tools do not offer the configuration options discussed.

Note 2: Whilst Ubuntu Tweak is not in the official repositories, this answer makes extensive use of this GUI tool since the favoured tool - MyUnity was dropped from the 12.10 repositories due to stability issues.

Note that some changes only appear after logging out and in again (i.e. restarting X).

User Interface

Hit the Dash and search for appearance

From the Appearance tab you can configure the:

wallpaper

theme

size of the launcher icons

From the Behaviour tab you can configure the:

how to invoke the launcher by moving the mouse (hot-spot) - either left-side of the screen or the top-left corner

how quickly the launcher is revealed - lower the slide bar, the longer the mouse needs to be at the hot-spot to be revealed.

Ubuntu Tweak

Hit Alt+F2 and type ubuntu-tweak and hit enter or choose the Ubuntu-tweak icon found in the Session Settings

You can now configure quite a few different settings, like the Fonts, Themes, Unity tweaks, Window tweaks, Workspace settings, Indicator Session Tweaks

Fonts

antialiasing - how smooth the fonts are displayed

hinting - adjust the display of the outline font

font options - change the font for the desktop type

Text scaling factor - scale the text font size by the given value.

Themes

Any themes that you have installed or manually installed (/usr/share/themes or ~/.themes) together with manually installed icons (/usr/share/icons or ~/.icons) can be chosen.

sub-key lenses - remote-content-search - "all" is to enable the supported default lens to search from remote and commercial sources. "none" will indicate the lenses to not perform that remote search at all.

sub-key Panel - systray-whitelist - List of client names, resource classes or wm classes to allow in the Panel's systray implementation. A value of [All] will allow any system-tray based application that is not by default a indicator to be displayed

display-available-apps - Display Apps Available for Download in the Applications lens.

display-recent-apps - Display Recently Used apps in the Applications lens.

use-locate - Use locate during searches to make sure the lens is able to find most of their files even it they're not logged by Zeitgeist.

CompizConfig Settings Manager

Hit Alt+F2 and type ccsm and hit enter.

Where an option is not described, then this functionality can be achieved through Ubuntu-Tweak or dconf-editor described above.

On the Behaviour tab you can configure:

1. The key to invoke the HUD - Head Up Display - by default this is the Alt key.

The key to show the launcher which by default is the Super key. This will also affect the key used to show the dash (if tapped) and the shortcuts shown when keeping Super pressed.

The key to put keyboard-focus on the launcher so you can navigate using your keyboard (default Alt + F1).

The key to open a Search Command dash where you can enter a command name you want to execute. (dafault Alt + F2).

The key to open the first panel menu (default F10).

The key to define the Application switcher (default Super+Tab

The key to define the Reverse the Application switcher (default Shift+Super+Tab

On the Switcher Tab:

Automatically grid windows on timer in switcher: Turn this off if you want don't want to automatically expand multiple windows in alt-tab.

Bias alt-tab sorting to prefer windows on the current viewport: Check this if you want alt tab to show only applications in your current workspace, or uncheck it to show all open applications regardless of which workspace they're on.

Show minimized windows in switcher: Turn this off if you don't want minimized windows appearing in the switcher

On the Experimental tab (might change hence the name):

The Launch Animation sets how the icons are animated.

None - no animation will be shown.

Pulse Until Running - the icon's back light will pulse till it loads up.

Blink - the icon's back light will blink.

The Urgent Animation sets how an icon will inform you of something important.

None - no animation.

Pulse - it will pulse.

Wiggle - it will wiggle.

Launcher Reveal Pressure - amount of mouse pressure required to reveal the launcher when the mouse is located at the launcher hot-spot (Decreasing this value causes the launcher to reveal with very light touch of the cursor at the hot-spot or left-side, otherwise you have to travel the cursor a little way)

Pressure Decay Rate - the rate at which the mouse pressure decays

Edge Stop Velocity - the maximum velocity at which the mouse will still be stopped

Duration of Sticky Edge Release after Break - delay after the sticky edge barrier is broken

Hide Animation - launcher animation

Fade on bfb and Slide - fades based on the position of your cursor in the bfb (big funny button - the one in the top left of your launcher with the Ubuntu circle of friends on it) and slides.

Slide only - it will only slide.

Fade only - it will only fade.

Fade and Slide - it will fade and slide.

The Automaximize value sets the minimum value to trigger automaximize.

Enable Shortcut Hints Overlay - pressing and holding the Super key displays the keyboard shortcuts overlay. This can be disabled through this setting.